Paparazzi were all around the scene as they took pictures of the corpse that was drenched from the rain that was pouring down. The medics who arrived late pushed through the reporters who were all shouting, making their words barely understandable what they were even trying to say. The reporters' drones were flying all around just to get a few excellent pictures of the corpse, which the police refused to answer even the gender of.
"Those damn reporters" An officer who seemed to be in his mid-thirty cursed beneath his breath. "It seems like they wish to be killed with how bothersome they are becoming." A thin translucent layer protecting them from the heavy rain surrounded the officers while the reporters were being drenched by the rain, with only some holding umbrellas.
"Shall we scare them off, divisional inspector?" A Junior officer asked as he stood beside his superior. The Divisional inspector looked at the inspector. He was quite the young fellow for his age. "Don't bother, I deal with it." The divisional inspector went to the crowd of reporters and pulled out his firearm.
A small handgun that resembled an old model of weapons that existed in the 21st century. Purple lines across its barrel and grip all connected to the safety lever of the pistol, with it emitting its color out. He shot up to one of the many drones that were in the sky. A purple beam came out of the pistol, penetrating through one drone, easily making it fall to the ground.
The Divisional inspector took off his head "I will give everyone here only one warning, if you continue to cause a commotion to us as we investigate I will see it as Obstruction of an official act and also as a Disturbance of public order which would allow me to put you all in our detention center, and I'm sure you all would love to hang around with a few rats," his tone carried confidence and not the slightest fear of even being criticized by anybody as his splendid red hair that was combed.
A reporter would shout out, infuriated by what he just said, "Who do you think that you are to threaten us like that! We, as reporters, have a right to know what happened here and to report it back to the public." The Divisional inspector stared at the bold reporter who shouted these words. The Reporter wore a black hat and had golden eyes and skin that was coal-like.
"Divisional inspector Flame Marington." Flame took a few steps to the barrier that was built there to stop just anybody from entering the crime scene; only authorized people can pass the blue barrier. Being able to look in but not able to enter is one of the many gadgets that the police have to make sure no one can tamper with evidence. "If you have a problem with me, you can report it to the police." He grinned at the reporter, with the junior officer looking with admiration towards Flame Marington.
The Reporter wanted to shout when he and the other reporters started to cough around. Flame looked at where the smoke came from. Between the reporters, he could see the silhouette of a tall figure coming through, holding an umbrella to protect itself from the heavy rain. It was a man smoking a thin cigarette with a mixed color of brown and green and a green skull in the middle. The smell that the cigarette gave off made the reporters all step away as it was unbearable.
The man walked through the barrier, shocking all the reporters. "How's the situation?" The man dropped the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it, rubbing it down to the ground to end its light while closing his umbrella. "I do assume you have found something new till I came, right?" The man asked again. The junior officer was confused because he didn't recognize the man, but the way the man spoke to the divisional inspector suggested of him being of a higher rank.
"Divisional inspector, if I may ask, who is this gentleman that came as? You treat the person with quite the respect." The Junior looked at the man and the clothes he wore. There was no badge, nor was he wearing a uniform, making it hard for him to guess if his rank was high or if he was from a separate department.
"Right, you may not know him, but he is the chief inspector of our department." He grinned, then said, "Detective Aiden Fate, the department leader of ours and a workaholic." A behavior that was unimaginable to act in front of their superior.
"Stop explaining it to him, Flame, and tell me what you have found out in the hour I came here." Aiden walked to the scene where the murder took place. Flame sent the inspector away as he caught pace with Aiden, who stormed ahead. "The victim is a 14-year-old girl. Having gotten her fingerprint, she is the daughter of the man Takimi Rimerd, the owner of MSP." Aiden would angrily tell the coroner transporters to go away.
"Does karma exist, or how did his daughter get murdered?" While sounding sarcastic, the anger was audible in Aiden's voice, with a hint of annoyance. "Did you find any protection gadgets on her? The report I got from you didn't mention any of them to have been on her when her corpse was found, but with her being the heir and sole child of the owner of MSP, she should be covered with protection items." He took a look at the corpse.
The girl's body bore countless stab wounds, many concentrated on her stomach. "Heartless bastard seemed to have enjoyed her pain, as they targeted where she would die slowly" He crouched down to the corpse, seeing how she also missed some fingers on her left hand.
"Why don't you just become a forensic pathologists instead of spending your time investigating murder cases? You would have less trouble, too, as those guys don't even work as hard as the doctors in regular hospitals." Flame called over a fellow officer, asking him to bring something over. "You always complain about the work, but still keep working here instead of doing a separate job in this sector."
"Stop joking and just say if there were any protection gadgets." Aiden looked at Flame, and he saw something being carried by an officer and given to Flame. He stood up and looked at what was brought to Flame. It was brought with inside small bubbles that were floating in the air. Inside the bubble were what seemed to look like a badge-like object, a few rings, and a necklace.
"Where were they found?" Aiden asked. "At the nearby alley inside the trash can, we also found the missing fingers there with the rings having been still on them." They all looked priceless. Aiden remembered seeing the badge before at another crime that had happened two weeks ago. The victim was also a rich child who was almost killed by a driver who saw her outside without any guards. The badge protected her from the car while the driver died in the collision with the barrier created by the badge of the girl. The girl was left unscathed from the attempt as it withstood the force of the car.
"What are the other two? Never saw them before, advertised or worn by other rich folks." The rings all had a green gem on them, the gem was shaped and carved in a square form while emitting a green light. The necklace looked quite simple; it held a yellow gem that was also emitting light on its own. Aiden tilted his head as he stared at them; their design was unique, with each having patterns on them. The rings with wave-like patterns and small roses engraved on the metal in a place no one would normally look, while the necklace chains of the necklace were rope chains that were made of a dark metal.
"The rings were meant to create multiple small barriers to protect specific spots of the body, while the necklace seemed to have been made to let out a powerful wave causing the air to push everything in a 2-meter radius back with enough force to make them travel 300 meters" protection items that are powerful but were hopeless. The chain of the necklace was broken, a clear break. Aiden's eyes turned to the corpse again as he saw a small but long wound at the neck of the girl.
"No cameras and no witnesses…a murder that left no evidence," Aiden mumbled. "That isn't fully correct…there is something that the murderer had left, but not something we figured out yet what it means." Flame came in, informing of the only evidence left. Aiden was curious as to what left them confused, they were competent enough to have a thesis and guess what might have caused it.
"Show me what it is?" Flame nodded to the request of Aiden and led him to the alley where they had found the items. Entering the alley alone, Aiden could smell blood all around it.
>>What did that murderer leave behind for the entire place to smell like blood?<< Aiden would see soon what was left behind. It was a gigantic eye with a circle behind it and lines seemingly to represent the sun. The blood was too excessive to have come from a victim. Aiden could see words written on the wall below the drawing.
"The Mother of Heaven has sent its angel for salvation. Stand, brothers, as the devils shall die, burning in the depths of hell itself. God isn't dead, she hasn't died, abandoned they thought, but she came to punish the sinners of this world to give us what is ours to own."
"It's the work of a cult?" Aiden asked for Flame to verify, who shook his head instead. Aiden seems surprised by him, shaking his head. "If it isn't a cult, then what else could it be?" Aiden sounded annoyed again already.
"There is no proper proof that it was the work of a cult; it is too clean of a work, and this would break the way cults nowadays tend to work," Flame sighed, ignoring the annoyance that Aiden felt. "We suspect it might be an unregistered
"There are then two options" Aiden made a two with his finger "Either as you said it was the work done by an Übermensch which would be likely as no traces of magic were found" he then put one finger down before he continued to speak "It might also be just an inside job instead of a complicated matter of an Übermensch who not only has an ability likely tied to teleportation to leave no trace but enough strength to pass through 4 layers of protection it would more likely be something that was planned with insiders" Aiden walked again to the corpse of the girl.
"As a rich girl and a father who produces not only things, rich people used to protect themselves from danger, even if it tends to kill accidentally the other party who does not have the luxury to buy the same items. It would leave enough people who would wish for the man to lose his one and only heir, and there are enough ways to interfere with someone's protection item if you have the right equipment." A reasonable explanation, going by the little evidence there is.
Complicating a case is never a good thing, as it would just be a waste of time. Going with the simpler solution, especially when there was little reason not to, would be the best, however… "How do you explain then the symbol and the message? Even if we say it was an insider, why would the murderer risk leaving evidence if it was for revenge, and if it was revenge, why leave a message that sounds cultish?" It didn't click for Flame to throw it all away as simple revenge.
"To throw our leads off. If you waste the time of the police, it will likely be ignored to save resources exception if the victim's family wants us to continue, which they pay us to do then." Aiden would see the coroner's transporters. "You guys can take the corpse away now," he shouted to them. He turned to Flame. "Is there another thing that you doubt about my conclusion?" Aiden's eyes looked heavy, showing his workaholic nature and that he hadn't slept for days.
Flame wanted to rebut the claim of the chief inspector, Aiden, but no words came out of his mouth. From an evidence standpoint and reasoning, it made sense. She was killed by a group of people who also worked for her father. With that knowledge, they disabled the protective gear that she had on her and then murdered the young girl. It was a good explanation, but it felt too flawless to wrap up a case.
"No, chief inspector, there is nothing else that I wish to say; it is a plausible conclusion of yours. I will write a report of it and send it to the headquarters so you can go back and focus on more important tasks if there are any." Flame put his hat on and smiled at him. It wasn't one of being glad, and Aiden also knew it. Flame's agreeing was just him not wanting to annoy him any further. A guy like him wouldn't give up that way; if he believes in something, he will try to prove it until he accepts that there is nothing that can disprove his belief.
"I hope that you don't waste your time with things that do not matter in the end. I shall make an appointment with Mr. Rimerd for next week. Who knows? There might come some evidence or clues, as a week should be enough to conclude it." Aiden fixed the attire of his jacket.
>>Even if I had ended it just right now, there would be complaints about it<< Even if Aiden was a detective, and the chief inspector dealing with cases like that was always a bother. There was enough work he had to do, and he didn't feel the need to make the work that was already tiresome even more just because of a case that had no evidence. There were other cases with actual clues and pieces of evidence that could be solved.
Aiden walked to the exit of the barrier and opened his umbrella. He exited it as easily as he came in. The reporters tried to ask him questions: "Could you please tell us about the victim, who it might be, or the cause of death of the victim?" One reporter blocked the path of Aiden with a microphone in his hand. Quite outdated and old, and he was blatant with his greed, not caring for the victim but only after information to report. This ensured that the company she worked for would be able to publish the next article for the next day.
The murder of someone in the main city is something unheard of and makes these reporters just more greedy. "If you do not wish to be the one to be in the newspaper, then I recommend that you go away now." The threatening voice was deep and cold. It made them all feel fear, as it felt like the man there wasn't even human. The reporter was shivering in fear as he stared into the eyes of Aiden. Who was in front of him wasn't law enforcement nor a man, but a beast that was hiding its fang and was ready to strike. >>I might die<< The reporter fell to the ground as his legs gave up.
Aiden walked past the reporters to the car that he had parked nearby. The car engine started shortly after, and he drove away without a single word, as if nothing had happened. In the car, Aiden was driving to the police station, there was some work left to do. He tapped on the screen at the car, calling the station. After a few rings, it was picked up. "Sir Fate, are you already coming back to the station?" It was the voice of a woman.
"The case there that Divisional Inspector Flame called me for will likely be closed in a week, so I wish for you to arrange an appointment for me to talk with Mr. Rimerd as it was his daughter who had been murdered," Aiden reported back casually of what just had happened. An audible gasp could be heard on the other end of the line, but the woman would respond, "Understood, sir Fate, I will arrange an appointment with the victim's family." Aiden ended the call.
Constant appointments with the victim's family or going through papers and evidence are always the same routine. He stopped the car as the light was red, and he took the time to take a cigarette out of his pocket, 'Mirror' was the name of the brand. "I need to get another pack already finished it this week, and it's just Tuesday dammit"
Aiden sighed as he leaned his head on his seat. "Should I have just gone with the idea of Flame, some crazy Übermensch with an ability to leave no evidence but is also insanely strong… no, forget it. That would likely have been ignored by the headquarters if we had sent such a report to them." There were rules he had to follow if he didn't want to hear the complaints of the higher-ups.
"Right, this will end like every other case. Either the person is caught, or we never find them, and they are going scot-free outside. There is no need for me to care more than what is needed for me to do."
The light turned green, and Aiden continued his drive back to his workplace.